You could be getting more than you bargained for in your daily vitamin. According to a story in Consumer Reports, many of America's dietary supplements are also packing carcinogens and kidney- and heart-damaging contaminants.

This information comes from an article in the September issue of Consumer Reports. The article lists 12 different supplemental ingredients associated with negative health consequences. These include bitter orange (an ephedra-like supplement associated with heart attack and stroke), germanium, coltsfoot and colloidal silver, which has been marketed as an immune system booster but is known to cause argyria and kidney damage.

Wonder how these vitamins managed to slip past the FDA? Guidelines for vitamins and supplements differ greatly from those for food and traditional drugs. Supplement manufacturers are responsible for clearing the safety of their products and providing information, but many companies aren’t even required to register products or gain approval. The FDA can’t take action until the product goes to market.

“Supplements are marketed with very seductive and sometimes overblown sales pitches,” Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor for Consumer Reports, said in a news release. “Consumers are easily lulled into believing that supplements can do no harm because they’re ‘natural’.”

Metcalf also noted that not all natural ingredients are safe. “The FDA has repeatedly found hazardous ingredients, including synthetic prescription drugs,” she added.

The guidelines for supplements are flawed, but legislators have been moving slowly to boost the FDA’s oversight. Until then, Consumer Reports urges consumers to take responsibility in educating themselves on the health effects of their vitamins.

Get the full scoop at ConsumerReports.org or get vitamin information from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The FDA has just approved the first generic version of Lovenox, a popular blood thinner. The drug’s entry into the market could mean hundreds of dollars in savings for someone who depends on the drug for stroke/heart disease treatment.

Lovenox is used to treat and prevent deep vein thrombosis, a condition that, if left unchecked, can cause stroke or pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lung).

Momenta, the company whose technology was used to produce the new generic (M-Enoxaparin), has been awaiting approval for five years. They’ve spent the last half-decade battling Sanofi-Aventis, makers of Lovenox, over the drug’s efficacy.

According to Sanofi-Aventis, the biologically derived drug is complex and difficult to reproduce, and that it could fail with even the slightest error. They argue that the new generic may not be safe for consumers. The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. is considering the company’s case, but for now Sandoz/Momenta’s M-Enoxaparin is legal and available for use.

“The approval of M-Enoxaparin marks a key milestone for Momenta, and we are extremely pleased,” said Momenta president and CEO Craig Wheeler in a press release. “This is the first product based on Momenta’s technology platform to be approved, and demonstrates our ability to characterize and develop a complex mixture drug like Lovenox.”

Read the original article in the New York Times, or read Momenta’s press release for more details.

Bed bugs are sweeping the nation! According to a report by the National Pest Management Association, reports of bed bugs are up 57 percent.

Bed bugs are tick-like parasites with round, flat bodies that resemble watermelon seeds. Their rusty color comes from their diet—blood. Although they sometimes snack on bats, pets and poultry, their primary diet is human blood. This means that these parasites can transmit blood-borne diseases from host to host.

The thought of blood-sucking bunkmates may make your skin crawl, but if you’ve got them you’re more likely to itch. Bites are usually found on the face/head, neck, arms and hands. Bites are red and may have a darker spot in the middle, and may come in small clusters or lines.

Because bed bug bites are similar to those of other insects, it can be difficult to determine whether bed bugs are actually the culprits. These nocturnal nuisances leave a literal spotty blood trail in their paths. They can also be detected by a subtly sweet, moldy smell.

Bed bugs can get in the walls, infest clothing, bedding and furniture—including your mattress, and may make a home behind your electrical sockets. Steam cleaning and laundry overhaul may help, but your best bet is to hire an exterminator. This can cost $800-$1200, but experts say it’s a worthwhile investment.

Visit ABC.com to learn more about the recent hike in bed bug cases, or go to Orkin.com to learn more about how to handle infestation.

 

Keep on the lookout if you like to gorge yourself on guacamole or stuff yourself with salsa. These two popular dips may be behind a growing pattern of foodborne illness.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education analyzed CDC data on foodborne illness outbreaks. They noticed a trend beginning in the late 1990s.

From 1998 to 2008, roughly one in 25 of all restaurant-related illnesses was a result of guacamole or salsa. This translated into 3.9 percent of all foodborne illness cases and contributes to billions in annual healthcare dollars.

"Salsa and guacamole often contain diced raw produce, including hot peppers, tomatoes and cilantro, each of which has been implicated in past outbreaks," researcher Magdalena Kendall of Oak Ridge said in a press release. "[These foods] are often made in large batches, so even a small amount of contamination can affect many customers."

Eating contaminated food can cause nausea, diarrhea, headache and fever. Foods such as guacamole and salsa have lots of vegetables and lots of possibilities for salmonella or E. coli contamination, which is why safety is a must.

"We want restaurants and anyone preparing fresh salsa and guacamole at home to be aware that these foods containing raw ingredients should be carefully prepared and refrigerated to help prevent illness," Kendall said.

Learn more about foodborne illnesses from the CDC, or visit Reuters for more information.

Bombshell blonds, buxom brunettes and fiery redheads--that's what most associate with these hair colors, right? But what about eye problems, nicotine addiction or Parkinson's disease? Your natural hair color could give insight into what to watch out for in your health.

You may have been told you’re easy on the eyes, blonds, but the eyes you really need to be easy on is your own. Ladies with lighter locks are more likely to experience an eye condition known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In some cases, AMD can lead to blindness. The good news? Eating foods rich in vitamins such as lutein can help boost eye health.

As for you brunettes out there, steer clear of cigarettes because the extra melanin—the compound responsible for your dark hair and complexion—in your system makes it easier for you to get hooked on nicotine. According to Gray, increasing your vitamin C intake can help curb the craving.

Fiery redheads tend to be more resistant to anesthetics. Talking to your doc about additional pain management or popping an ibuprofen pre-operation can help minimize pain. Redheaded women are also more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.

Keep in mind that your hair color might increase the likelihood of developing certain conditions, but it doesn’t set anything in stone. Other factors such as genetics and leading a healthy lifestyle make a difference, regardless of your hair color.

Check out MSNBC to get the full story and learn more about the health risks associated with your hair color.

Proper medication disposal can keep you and those around you safe. That's why it's important to keep track of expired medicines and to dispose of them properly.

Proper drug disposal can help protect against reactions from expired medications, accidental ingestion (i.e., by children), and potential prescription drug abuse by others. It can also protect the environment by ensuring cleaner water sources. We've compiled a list of tips to help you practice drug safety:

• Color-code drug packages/bottles with different-colored stickers according to expiration date (i.e., by season or month). Writing a larger, more visible expiration date on the package with a permanent marker may also help.
• Don’t flush expired drugs down the toilet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has specific guidelines on what can and cannot be flushed. Flushing drugs can cause pollution to human water supplies and danger to natural aquatic habitats.
• The Office of National Drug Control Policy suggests crushing pills, if possible, and mixing them with sand, coffee grounds, gravel, etc., before returning them to the bottle and throwing away. This ensures that no one will try to use the substance. Always make sure labels with personal information have been removed. Then, simply throw the container in the trash.
• Some communities have drug take-back programs. These programs are organized specifically to safely dispose of prescription drugs and other potentially dangerous household wastes. Talk with your pharmacist about other options to properly dispose of over-the-counter and prescription medications if your community does not offer a drug return program.           

For more on proper medication disposal, visit the FDA’s site for the Department of Health&Human Services.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pushing meat producers to cut the amount of antibiotics given to animals. The concern is that these antibiotics could lead to resistant strains of bacteria that could infect consumers.

Antibiotics have long been used in livestock care. In addition to treating sick animals, antibiotics are used to prevent the spread of disease and further promote healthier, and generally larger, produce. This practice is used to produce more food, which is why some are reluctant to restrict the amount of antibiotics that can be used to raise animals.

“As we know, healthy animals produce safe food,” Sam Carney, president of the National Pork Producers Council, told MSNBC. “We need every available tool to protect animal health.”

Current guidelines allow meat producers to use antibiotics therapeutically (for illness) or sub-therapeutically (for prevention). Certain groups, such as Keep Antibiotics Working, maintain that the overuse of antibiotics leads to hardier, more resistant bacteria—such as salmonella and C. and E. coli—that can be transmitted to humans.

The FDA acknowledges that minimizing antibiotic resistance is “critically important for protecting both public and animal health.” In response, it is encouraging producers to limit the amount of sub-therapeutic antibiotics administered to livestock and poultry.

Read more from MSNBC, or learn more about antibiotic use in animals.

Do foods sold  with cartoon characters on the package taste better? In a Yale study, children preferred cartoon-endorsed foods to identical products in different packages.

Forty New Haven, Conn.,  four- to six-year olds participated in the study. They tried two samples of three different snack foods—graham crackers, fruit snacks, and carrots. Unbeknownst to the children, products within each group were identical foods in different packaging.

When asked which of each sample tasted better,  more than half of the children chose the snacks in cartoon-endorsed packaging. This number jumped to about 85 percent when asked which snacks they preferred.

Christina Roberto, a post-graduate student at Yale University and lead author of the study, says this is no accident. Companies use cartoons to push kids to choose their products.

Seems innocent enough, right? Wrong. One of the major concerns is when companies use characters to promote junk food rather than health food, which can lead to weight problems and poorer nutrition.

"The food industry spends $1.6 billion on youth-targeted marketing and, of that, 13 percent is dedicated to character licensing and cross-promoting," Roberto told ABC News. "For the most part, these foods are of poor nutritional quality."

Roberto suggests restricting what foods can use cartoon endorsements, but other experts, like registered dietitian Keith Thomas Ayoob of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, say parents need to take more responsibility.

"It has been shown to be successful that kids would eat a bag of carrots if their favorite character is on it. It's a tool. I have a hard time thinking these characters should be restricted,"he told ABC News. “I think parents have a whole lot more influence."

Uh-oh SpaghettiO! Campbell's  has recalled several SpaghettiO products due to the possibility of undercooked meat.

Roughly 15 million pounds of SpaghettiOs were recalled after a cooker malfunction was discovered in a Paris, Texas plant. The recall is voluntary, but spokesman Anthony Sanzio says it’s better safe than sorry.

Consuming undercooked meat can cause food poisoning. Symptoms include nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain or cramping, fatigue, and/or fever. Symptoms may appear within a few hours or several days later, and can last as long as ten days.

Contact your doctor immediately if you experience severe symptoms and believe you may have food poisoning. You should also check your SpaghettiOs labels to make sure they are not affected by the recall.

Here’s What to Look For:

·       SpaghettiOs products containing meat—SpaghettiOs with Meatballs, SpaghettiOs A to Z with Meatballs and SpaghettiOs Fun Shapes with Meatballs.

·       SpaghettiOs products containing meat produced between December 2008 and June 2010.

·       SpaghettiOs products on which “EST 4K” appears on the label.

·       SpaghettiOs products with a “Use By” date betweene June 2010 and December 2011.

Campbell’s urges customers to return these products to the store for a full refund or exchange.

Get more information about the recall by calling Campbell’s Customer service line (1-866-495-3374) or visiting the Campbell’s Soup website.

A new liver transplant method adds a new facet to the term "going green". The method of re-seeding liver cells, essentially a form of bio-re-hauling, may become a promising option for patients in need of liver transplants.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Engineering cleared live cells from liver tissue to leave a framework. They “re-seeded” healthy liver tissue into the framework, where tissues eventually regenerated.

The goal is for the tissue to attach to host tissues, where it would take root and redevelop unhealthy tissue. Although experimentation is in its early stages, the method was successful in laboratory rats.

“As far as we know, a transplantable liver graft has never been constructed in a laboratory setting before,” lead researcher Dr. Korkut Uygun told BBC News.

If it proved effective in humans, it could be a realistic answer to the donor organ shortage. Roughly 15,000 people are in need of a new liver each year, while the actual number available is a mere 4,500. This method could help make previously rejected organs acceptable for transplant.

“We haven’t been able to go beyond several hours in the rats,” Uygun says, “but it’s a great start.”

Want to know more? See Uygun’s article in Nature Medicine.